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Letter From Fr. John
The Solemnity of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 to combat Secularism: a way of life which seeks to extract God from man’s thinking, and attempts to organize man’s life as if God doesn’t exist. Today’s Solemnity seeks to proclaim in an unmistakable manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments and nations. The Masses celebrated in the course of this Solemnity are the final celebrations before beginning the season of Advent, a new liturgical year.
Today’s Mass establishes the titles for Christ’s royalty over men:
Christ is God, the Creator of the Universe, and therefore has power over all things.
Christ is our Redeemer. He died for us on a Cross, resurrected, and gives us life through His Body and Blood each time we receive Him.
God bestowed upon his Son, Jesus, the nations of the world as His special dominion. Christ is the Head of the Church – “holding in all things the primacy.” The Solemnity of Christ the King describes the qualities of Christ’s kingdom: the Kingdom of God is supreme, extending to all people; universal, extending to all nations and places; eternal, everlasting; and spiritual, extending to the heavenly realm of God. Not only on this feast day, but every day we go to Mass, we encounter Christ the King, radiant, majestic, and divine. With an ever growing desire, we will move past this feast to Advent, where we await the coming King with joyful expectation.
Our role as we approach Advent and enter into it is to wait expectantly, to be ready and waiting. Advent asks the question: “Are we ready and open enough for a newness to begin within us? Are we open to the Kingship of the Christ Child who will bring new life, hope and joy?”
“Let all my world be silent in your presence, Lord, so that I may hear what the Lord God may say in my heart. Your words are so softly spoken that no one can hear them except in a deep silence. But to hear them lifts those who sit alone and in silence completely above their natural powers, because he who humbles himself will be lifted up. He who sits alone and listens will be raised above himself.” Guigo II (1114-1193), Carthusian Monk
Fr. John